Star Wars: The Force Unleashed may have come out a while back now, but that doesn’t stop some items for the game coming to the marketplace anyway. So if you want to dress that Xbox Live avatar of your’s as a stormtrooper then now you can – provided you spend between 80-400 MS Points anyway.

There’s also some props, such as the light sabre, which are guaranteed to up your nerd cred.

Come to think of it the timing of these is probably due to the release of the Hoth DLC pack for SW:TFU, which is available now for 800 MS points.

I wanted to let you know that on April 15, 2010 Microsoft will discontinue Xbox LIVE service for original Xbox consoles and games, including Xbox 1 games playable on Xbox 360. Our first step in this process will be to turn off auto-renewals for those members who only use Xbox LIVE on a v1 Xbox. While I can’t comment on the specifics, this change will allow us to continue evolving the LIVE service with new features and experiences that fully harness the power of Xbox 360 and the Xbox LIVE community. We did not make this decision lightly, but after careful consideration and review we realize that this decision will allow us unprecedented flexibility for future features.

Major Nelson has revealed more news via his blog recently, this time about the increasingly popular 1 vs 100 Live.

All Xbox Live members, including Silver will be able to play 1 vs 100 over the course of a few days in the Christmas period, with a “special holiday episode” on Boxing Day. I assume the special episode he is referring to will be in the USA, but there may be one in the UK too.

The actual quote:

“1 v 100 Live will be free for all Xbox Live members (Gold and Silver) from Dec. 24th to the 28th (in regions where it is available.)”

I would definitely recommend giving it a try, and I know I will be online on it at at least one time in the next few days…

A demo of upcoming Army of Two: The 40th Day will be hitting PSN and Xbox Live this week, 17th December to be exact.

The demo will contain the majority of the game’s first level, with Salem and Rios shooting their way through Shanghai. Explosions, badda-boom and all that crap.

I’m looking forward to checking this one out, even though I haven’t got around to completing the first game yet (I blame my brother for never having the time for it). The trailer here certainly makes it look like more of the same fun that made the first one such a joy to play in co-op.

For me one of the worst things about Modern Warfare 2 is the fact that they decided to restrict party chat on most playlists, meaning that we have to mute people or suffer each match in the company of screaming 12 year-olds (who shouldn’t even be playing the game in the first place, but we’ll leave that for today). If Microsoft has allowed one developer do this then what’s to say it won’t open the floodgates for other developers to block party chat?

Dice’s Gordon Van Dyke recently told MTV that Battlefield: Bad Company 2 won’t be putting this restriction in place, so you’re free to talk to your friends in the privacy of party chat.

“We are ok with [party chat]. We haven’t taken a stance, being against it and feeling like people are cheating,” he said. “Is it worth putting a restriction on it that affects everybody?

“I don’t think [cheating with party chat is] that big of an issue, that I’ve seen, where we have to worry about that.”

The guy talks sense. I don’t see why the rest of us should suffer just because of a minority of people that abuse the system. I and my friends have never, for example, used party chat to give the locations of the other team after dying on a ‘Search and Destroy’ match. The problem just isn’t as big as Infinity Ward think, and it’s putting people off playing their game because a few people have to ruin it for everyone else.

The only problem is that Battlefield: Bad Company 2 might not turn out to be all that good, although the first one wasn’t half bad so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt for now

Apparently, Microsoft have filed a patent for a “Super Guide” on Xbox Live – recently utilised in Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros Wii title.

Theoretically, players will be able to pause difficult sections of a game and pull up hints and walkthroughs submitted by other users. What format these guides will take is speculative at the moment, but it has been suggested video clips and “commentaries” will potentially be included as part of the service.

It is still up in the air as to whether the service will be free or available for Gold Xbox Live Members etc, but watch this space for further info.

What do you guys think? Would you be willing to use/pay for this kind of service? Would you want to submit your own content to help other frustrated gamers??

The latest issue of Sky’s subscriber TV magazine has confirmed that Sky content will be available on the Xbox 360 in the UK from next month, October 2009. No more details are currently available, but it’s thought the functionality will be similar to that available with the previously PC-only “Sky Player”.